Principal
Whitney Featherstone
Whitney Featherstone established Shore Dance in 2008. She grew up in Palmerston North, training at the Maureen Ax School of Dance in ballet and jazz since the age of 3. In 2006, she moved to Auckland to complete a Bachelor of Dance at AUT University, for which she received the Top Academic Scholar award in 2009. During this time, she also completed her RAD Advanced 2 examination and became a Royal Academy of Dance Registered Teacher. Whitney has achieved her NZAMD Solo Diploma in both jazz and ballet, and is now a registered NZAMD and AJDA teacher, living with her husband and three children on the North Shore.
Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz Teacher
Hannah Tang
Hannah is a certified Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) ballet teacher and a current undergraduate of University of Auckland, Dance Studies. Hannah started learning ballet at the age of 4 and has completed her RAD examinations till Advanced 1. Aside from ballet, she is also trained in contemporary dance. Hannah has danced in many works with Republic Polytechnic Modern Dance and National University of Singapore Dance Ensemble. She has also competed in various dance competitions such as the Asian Grand Prix Hong Kong and Get the Beat Singapore.
Hannah has taught syllabus and non-syllabus ballet at The Ballet Academy Singapore and has choreographed for recitals, competitions, and workshops. She has worked with dancers of all age groups and is passionate about teaching and helping her students achieve their full potential. She always strives to create a learning environment where students are comfortable and confident.
Ballet Teacher
Kezia Crawford
Kezia Crawford was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and it was here, at the age of 3, that her dance journey began. She studied classical ballet, working through the RAD levels and eventually joining the National Ballet of Zimbabwe in their junior programme at the age of 13. She danced with the National Ballet of Zimbabwe for 5 years, in that time making her way up to the senior company, before leaving Zimbabwe in 2005 to move to New Zealand. Here, she completed her RAD Teaching Certificate and Bachelor of Dance at AUT University, graduating as Top scholar in 2007. After completing a one year internship with DANZ, she continued to focus on teaching at Devonport School of Dance, where she had completed her Advanced 2 and teacher training. She has been teaching for Christine Snowball at Devonport School of Dance for the past 10 years, offering classes in both RAD ballet and NZAMD Contemporary. She is really looking forward to joining the Shore Dance family and meeting all the wonderful students she has heard so much about!
Jazz Teacher
Elleen Davids
Elleen began her dance journey at the age of 5 at a local dance studio in Feilding. Over the years, she developed a strong passion for dance and completed all of her NZAMD Jazz exams. At 18, she transitioned from student to teacher, sharing her love for dance with others. Elleen has owned and operated two dance studios: el-lean back school of dance in Feilding, and Eternity Dance in Glenfield, for the past 14 years. Throughout this time, she has taught a wide range of students, from children as young as 4 to adults, specializing in jazz and hip hop. A trained primary school teacher, Elleen combines her teaching expertise with her love of dance to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all her students. She believes that anyone can dance and strives to make every class enjoyable and accessible to everyone. Elleen is excited to join the Shore Dance family, bringing her wealth of experience, passion, and enthusiasm to share with the next generation of dancers.
Tap, Jazz, Ballet, PBT Teacher
Emma Neill
Hi I’m Emma! I’m so happy to join the Shore Dance family this year teaching tap!! I started dance at the age of 4 and have done it ever since, doing ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary as well as a range of dance comps. I love teaching dance and am now currently studying a Bachelor of Dance Studies to be a better dance teacher!
Looking forward to what the year brings
Lots of love xxx
Tap Teacher
Lucy Thorne
Lucy has spent most of her 19 years in a dance studio or on the stage! Starting when she was just 3 years old, Lucy trained in all different styles and began dance competitions until the age of 15. Nowadays she spends most of her time rehearsing for theatrical productions with Encore Theatre Collective or studying at AUT for her nursing degree. She is very excited to teach tap to everyone at Shore Dance and looks forward to meeting everyone!
Jazz & Competition Teacher
Charlie Gilmour
ACharlie began her training in 2007 at the Maureen Ax School Of Dance in Palmerston North, where she trained under Maureen Ax, Louise Baker and Brooke Parsons. Upon completion, Charlie was offered a full scholarship to Village Nation Performing Arts in Sydney, Australia where she trained under Jacqui Howard and Wayne Aspinall.
Charlie has worked as a performer on ‘The Voice Australia’, with Joe Jonas, Kelly Rowland, Delta Goodrem and Boy George. She was also a dancer for the launch of ‘SBS Football World Cup’ and was part of the live filming for an Australian tv show, ‘Dance Boss’.
She had accepted a dance contract in Greece with Remarc Agency for 2020 however stayed home due to Covid.
In her return to New Zealand, Charlie has been choreographing, teaching and adjudicating nationwide while also working in ‘Unity Dance Company’, based in Wellington.
Jazz Teacher
Phoenix Rockell
Phoenix has been dancing at Shore Dance since she was 3 years old. She started in ballet class, but then switched to jazz and has been doing jazz ever since. In 2020, she picked up contemporary and has never looked back. She also joined lyrical, further expanding her dance experience. In 2024, she was a jazz assistant teacher at Shore Dance as well as joining the DanceStep student teacher program. She is so excited to be teaching jazz this year so that she can share the joy she has found through dance!
Contemporary Teacher
Minami Otaki
Minami is a current undergraduate of University of Auckland, Dance Studies. Minami started training in Chinese dance & ballet at the age of 3 at Dance Ensemble Singapore before moving into contemporary dance. She has performed in many works with Republic Polytechnic Modern Dance and trained in The Human Expression (T.H.E) Second Company’s Training Initiative (SCTI). Minami has also trained and performed in Hiroshima, Japan with Dance Studio Flex. She is passionate about teaching and helping her students to their highest potential. She always strives to create a fun and enjoyable learning environment for her students.
Jazz & Tap Teacher
Agnes Stephens
Agnes started her dance journey at 4 years old, starting her first ballet class at Shore Dance and has danced there ever since! Agnes has danced many styles of dance and is especially strong in Contemporary, tap, Jazz, and lyrical, Completing all her NZAMD exams as well as completing her Solo Seal diploma in tap. Agnes also has competed for shore dance as both a soloist and in troupes, and has attended PACANZ multiple times. During this time Agnes completed her APDA teaching qualification and is a registered APDA dance teacher, she is super excited to share her love of dance and the Shore Dance family!!
Musical Theatre & Hip Hop Teacher
Mārie Jones
Mārie began her dance journey in 2008 and was taught by Brooke Roydhouse, Alaina Sims and Louise Baker in Palmerston North. She attended MEBA Future Dancers, Chilton Dance Centre and contemporary associates at New Zealand School of Dance in her lead up to full-time. She pursued full-time completing a Diploma in Dance at NZSD as a contemporary major. During her time at NZSD, she performed for World of Wearable Arts (WoW) and Black Grace Company B. She has since danced professionally for New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) in their show Matariki for Tamariki and understudied for Whenua and then for Hawaiki Tū at the World Choir Games. Mārie loves to be involved in a variety of things, ranging from kickboxing, horse riding, pilates, beach walks and brunches. She has recently returned from Canada to study business and works as a qualified gym instructor, personal trainer and dance teacher.
Musical Theatre Teacher
Leah Wood
Coming soon
Admin / Uniform Shop & Relief Teacher
Bronwyn Murray-Yates
Coming Soon
Hip Hop Teacher
Riley Anslow
Riley began dancing at 8 in Wellington, training at Pump Dance before moving to The Company NZ (TCNZ), where she joined the crew Stellar, qualifying for Hip Hop Unite Worlds in Portugal (2022) and winning Shakedown Dance Competition.
Since moving to Auckland in 2024 to train at Identity Dance Company (IDCO), Riley has competed in both solos and company teams. In 2025, dancing with YUNG ID, she achieved international success, winning World of Dance Qualifier, World Dance Crew Championship (WDCC), and World of Dance Championship Finals in Los Angeles, USA.
Trained in Hip Hop her whole life, Riley loves sharing her skills and passion with the next generation of dancers. After assisting at Shore Dance in 2025, she’s excited to officially join the teaching team in 2026.